Phil Robertson was suspended by A&E for bigoted comments in GQ. Conservatives cry foul, but it hardly violates his rightsThe right to free speech isn't just a fundamental American value; it's enshrined in the first amendment to our constitution. If only the most loud-mouthed among us actually understood what it says. Here's what the First Amendment offers: you can say, write or publish pretty much whatever you want, no matter how offensive (with a few exceptions), and the government can't step in and censor you or put you in jail. Here's what the first amendment doesn't do: allow you to say, write or publish whatever you want, no matter how offensive, and also entitle you to a giant pay check from your starring role on a cable reality TV show.This isn't exactly Harvard-level legal theory, but many Republicans, Christian organizations and garden-variety tweeters enjoy spouting off about their love of freedom and the Constitution while remaining disturbingly unaware of what the Bill of Rights actually says and means. The right-wing passion for a set of ideals they claim to revere – but remain ignorant of – is not new, but it's news again this week. They're up in arms at the suspension of Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson for a series of homophobic and bigoted remarks he made to GQ magazine. Professional consequences for bigoted comments, they say, violate the constitutional right to free speech.Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal said: Phil Robertson and his family are great... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
J K Rowling's The Casual Vacancy (Little, Brown) is to be adapted into a television series... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Australian publisher APN is putting its South Island newspapers on the block including The Star in Christchurch and the Oamaru Mail. It is also intending to sell the Capital Community Newspaper group in Wellington but is keeping the weekly free Kap ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Doris Janhsen, publishing director of Germany's Verlag Friedrich Oetinger, predicts that we'll see fewer vampires and zombies in forthcoming YA and teen books. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The postcards started coming last month. “Stanley,” “Marge,” and “Toby” wrote to booksellers from “Pine Haven” to draw attention to Jill McCorkle’s first novel in 17 years, Life After Life, coming from Algonquin in March. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#draw attention
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Colin Firth and Michael Fassbender are to star in a film about the relationship between writer... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin, HarperCollins, Profile, Bardowl and The History Press have been shortlisted for a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House Children's Screen Entertainment has sold its first book-to-screen transfer... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The book publishing industry is dealing with two conflicting trends at the moment: the number of individual titles produced continues to rise while the number of print units sold continues to fall. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#digital printing
Octopus company Mitchell Beazley has acquired The Bowler's Meatball Cookbook by Jez Felwick,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Usborne has acquired a new standalone title by US author Sara Zarr. Fiction director Rebecca... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When a slide showing eight book covers popped up in Jeff Bezos’s presentation on Thursday, Jennifer 8. Lee--who was following along on a live blog from New York City--gasped. The books are part of Amazon’s new Kindle Serials format, and she published three of them: Hacker Mom, The Many Lives of... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2012-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Razorbill, the teenage imprint of Penguin Children's, has done the first English language... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Many newspapers have tried ebooks as a new revenue stream, but the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s “In the Footsteps of Little Crow” stands out. Curt Brown’s extensively researched narrative of the 1862 U.S.-Dakota ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury is asking members of the public to star on the cover of a forthcoming novel. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Religion, bathroom routines and politics are three things you should never, ever discuss at the dinner table. However, if you're curious about your neighbors' political reading habits, then you should check out Amazon's Election Heat Map. The bookseller rated the top 250 books with a "clear... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bestselling authors Cormac McCarthy, Walter Isaacson, the late Nora Ephron, and Jennifer Egan are among the many authors represented by ICM Partners, whose book sales are boosted by the adaptation of their work to film and television, all under the watchful eyes of agents Ron Bernstein, Josie... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House US has launched a television division, formed in partnership with fellow Bertelsmann... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The ebook format became the most popular one for adult fiction in 2011, surpassing hardcover books and paperbacks, according to an annual survey. Net revenue from ebook sales over all more than doubled from 2010. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2012-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing is getting a starring role at London’s Design Museum this week while its... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The publishers of The Anniston Star on Monday announced a series of changes to cut expenses while concentrating on digital growth, including the discontinuation of the Monday print edition of The Star and the Friday Escapes section. The changes com ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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